Blog

It is always a joy to hear of new businesses opening and thriving in our area and Nikki and her Canine Crèche in March are no exception. I recently popped by, with my own dog, to have a look around her fantastic facilities and to find out more about dogs get up to whilst at …

Several pensioners from Chatteris recently informed me that travel from Chatteris to Cambridge was becoming increasingly more difficult due to changes to the bus timetables. The no. 9 bus which previously ran hourly switched to a two hourly service in January, this has had a major impact on the lives of pensioners living in Chatteris. …

I recently welcomed Rod Garnham and David Glennan from Corkers Crisps to the Houses of Parliament as part of a Taste of Cambridgeshire event organised by Shailish Vara MP for North West Cambridgeshire. It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the quality food and drink producers we have in our area and I was proud …

The Railway in Whittlesey reopens this weekend after a £300,000 refurbishment by Heineken, one of their largest investments in the country, and the relaunched pub looks fantastic. Yesterday l was shown around by Landlord Simon Baines and got to pull the first pint, using the new Heineken Smart Dispenser which ensures each pint is of …

My letter to the local funding body set to receive a further £37.6 million from the Government next month highlights a number of new concerns. It has emerged today that comments made to me by the Chief Executive at our meeting on 20th January were untrue, and that they have privately “apologised profusely” to the …

A number of school head teachers have been working closely with me in recent weeks on the issue of school funding and I thought it helpful to provide an update. The first point to make is that the government consultation on school funding only closed this week and so no final decisions have been made. …

Sir Amyas Morse, Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO), has confirmed in a letter to me that the NAO will now investigate the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) following the concerns I raised over its governance and value for money. The NAO has further confirmed that the Department …

It was great to welcome the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, to Fenland today to sign the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution deal. In the past major Government announcements tended to be signed in Cambridge and I am keen to ensure the north of the county receives more attention. In visiting …

Just under a month ago we were one of just twelve areas nationally to win a place on the Department for Education’s flagship opportunity area programme bringing £6 million of extra funding to Fenland and East Cambs schools, further funding for a new research school to help share best practice, and priority access to a …